Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty Three
The ship rocked beneath my feet as I watched Bran and Gianni on the dock of Ferro, their faces close together, whispering words of what I was sure were goodbyes.
A smile curved my lips when the dark haired man of the desert, with eyes of glittering night, took my cousin's face in his hands, my gaze averting when their lips met.
Antoni’s amber stare caught mine as he approached, my back leaning against the siding of the boat as the sun shone down upon us.
“You lot look worse for wear,” he commented, the silver rings that decorated his fingers reflecting the light of day.
“The travel was very hot and long,” I responded, stretching my arms high overhead.
The journey from Amareshi to Ferro had only been a day and night's ride, gone far too quickly.
I had not yet spoken of what occurred in my conversation with Wraith and despite Bran filling in everyone, I knew Kairen was still impatient to ask me his questions.
Roan had been a buffer between us, a shield for the interrogation I was not yet ready to undertake.
I knew it bothered Kairen, that his friend seemingly had drawn a line of which side he would stand upon.
It unsettled me, the tension that now sat between them.
“Well, rest easy for the two weeks you’re aboard the ship, I promise they’ll be giving you no trouble this time.”
“Is that so?” I hummed my amusement.
“Aye, you gained their respect. Have you thought of my offer at all?” His eyes glittered, a knowing of the abyss that yawned within me. As if he knew that I didn’t wish to return to Amori City, to the problems that awaited there.
How easy it would be, to steal away the Captain of the Kingsguard and make a life out at sea. No more wicked kings, no more heartache or loss.
Until I thought of Bran, Merle, and perhaps even Rosie, my fiery acquaintance who always cut my drinks far too short. What of the people within the Old Quarter who relied on the care I helped deliver?
My smile was rueful. “It’s tempting, but I’m afraid my work in the capital isn’t quite done.”
“The offer will still stand when it is.”
When Bran boarded, the last from the dock, and the ropes were cast, we set sail back onto the open sea.
The familiar roll of the waves beneath my feet, the spray of saltwater and wind upon my face, and I found peace in it.
In the familiar call and timber of the crew yelling out directions.
I watched Roan work in tandem with Kidd, muscles flexing as the cracking of the sails being unfurled sounded.
Antoni stood within the middle of the chaos directing the wind for the course we would need.
Kairen approached from the side, his dark hair nearly auburn in the sunlight, golden eyes bright as he joined me. His arms crossed as he watched the crew, neither of us needed for this particular work.
“Is Rena settled?” I asked, breaking the silence that hovered between us. His head dipped, ringed fingers flexing.
“Yes, the potion you brewed for sea sickness has her sleeping already.”
“Drowsiness is an unfortunate side effect for that particular remedy.”
We fell back into silence, the cry of the gulls high overhead as though singing the words we could not say. My feet shifted, eyes catching silver and green as he sought me out. I saw the way his gaze narrowed, body tensing and shook my head.
“You can ask what you’d like to know, Kairen.”
His head turned, dark waves shifting with the movement. His hair had grown longer over our journey, falling into his face as he gave me a tight smile.
“Are you sure? It appears as though we have a tense audience.”
My attention drifted back to Roan who still watched the interaction, wariness lining every muscle.
“Are you two still bickering?”
A laugh sounded, startling me. The prince’s head was tipped back, white teeth gleaming in the rays of sun that shone over the planes of his face. He basked in it as though he were sun and flame incarnate.
“Roan and I were boys together.” His smile stayed fixed, voice wistful.
“I was the third-born son, so my father didn’t care much for who I kept company with.
We played together when we were little, trained together when we grew older, bled together when we became men.
He’s been my ally in every corner of life, a constant.
And I in his.” His hand flexed again, jaw ticking.
“Until now. Until you, and I have to admit I've had a hard time coming to terms with it.”
I picked at my nails, careful with my words. “His life has been in dedication to a throne which stole everything from him. Should he not be allowed some freedom in his choices where it’s possible? Him caring for another doesn’t make his care for you any less.”
“He beat me until my face was blood—”
“And you burnt me until the skin melted from my back. You both made mistakes.”
A sigh fell from his lips as he appraised me, the tension easing from his body as though my words drained away whatever ill will he harbored within himself. “Perhaps you’re right.”
My shoulder brushed his, a peace offering before I said, “Do you wish to speak of what happened with Wraith?”
“Bran said he claimed it was a human creation, that my family created it to further the divide between Luanthians and Solerians, so they could be the only ruling power.”
“What do you think of that?”
A frustrated hand tore through his hair, his lips thinning. “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
My shoulder lifted. “As much as I don’t want to believe it, it would make sense. An illness blamed on Luanthian magic appears and then half a century later, the Luanthian nobility is slaughtered and Solerians take sole control of the kingdom—could that merely be a coincidence?”
“There’s still the possibility it was created by the demon princes?”
My head dipped, conceding as I let out a sigh of my own. “That’s still a possibility. One positive in the ocean of negatives we’re currently drowning in, it’ll be easier to find a cure if it was something of human creation. If we can find a way to replicate and study it, I could find a remedy.”
“You would want to replicate it?”
“In a safe, secure environment where it could be studied and never released, yes.”
“That sounds like it has a million chances of going horribly wrong.”
My mind was heavy, tired. “Do you have a better idea?”
“I have many ideas, Potion Maker,” his crossed arms tightening the barest hint, “and none seem like a good option.”
“Then let us go north and find whoever this Misha is and see what we discover there, the quest isn’t yet over.” I tried to be comforting, but still there was an underlying awkwardness between us. I saw then his gaze drifting to Roan, his jaw tightening.
“Have you tried speaking with—“
“Of course I have.” The bite in those words had my own anger surging, a breath releasing as I tried to calm the vitriol that wanted to fall from my tongue. Men, what frustrating creatures they could be.
“Have you tried speaking to him as a friend and not as a Solerian Prince of Tavari?” His eyes flitted to me, uncertainty swirling there as I continued, “You were boys together, grew into men together, as you said before. You were equals and now you’re each in positions where the dynamic of power has shifted.
He is a weapon for your father, for the throne that you are third in line for, Kairen.
You hold a power over him that is impossible to ignore and you tossing out orders does not help the situation.
Speak to him as the friend you claim he is, not the tool he’s been made into.
Trust him not to cross the lines you set. ”
I moved to walk away, to leave him there with that thought and the hope that he would act upon it. His voice came quiet then, a bitterness to the words. “And what of you, Potion Maker? Is it so easy to trust for you? Have you told him all your secrets yet?”
My spine straightened, when had this animosity awoken? My brows furrowed as I turned, taking in the rigidness of his body as he stood still against the siding of the ship. His golden gaze pierced through me as though I was merely a puzzle for him to work out.
“I’ve been watching you, and something about you just never seems to be quite right.
How many times did your throat burn for a drink in the desert?
What other secrets do you keep so closely that a man known for all things illegal should recognize you upon first glance? What is the darkness you hide?”
The words were cruel, I was sure he knew it. Meant to slash through the shields around my heart and burrow deep into the depths. And sting they did, but I would not allow it to show. My laugh was humorless.
“You once asked if I trusted you and said that some part of you wished to trust me,” I said, an eerie calmness falling over me, none of the swirling anxiety within. An emptiness that scared even myself. “Do you still feel that way?”
Silence stretched, an answer without words. His golden rings and irises flashed, had the shadows within me stirring—a hissing song of wrath and ruin.
“Trust is earned and easily broken.” I took a step closer, a line from the prophecy stark in my mind.
“For fate is cruel and trust may burn—be careful, Princeling, that your insecurities don’t create a self-fulfilling end to this quest. My drink is no concern of yours, nor is my darkness or my secrets. Worry about your own first.”
He was silent as I walked away, his eyes upon my back burning like the blessed flame he carried, melting and twisting into something ugly and fearful deep within me. A Solerian Prince was not an enemy I wanted to make, but did he wish to make one of me?